Blank Memory
by Konoha-Crash
Summary: Thought to have died in the confrontation with Cortes & Sirus, the Sphere's second robot Anubis is recovered from the wreckage and taken back to Puerto Angel. But can he survive with a blank memory and no understanding of emotions?
1. Wreckage Recovery

NOTE: This fic is connected to the other two. To fully understand, read "Never Loved Another" and "Past Mistakes" first!

* * *

The next morning, a scout ship shot off to explore the farther reaches, to see what it could find. After some length of time, the radar picked up a faint electrical signal. It was coming from a wrecked block some way off. On checking it with the vectors map, the crew discovered it was the same block Cortes had been found on when sirus had gone missing.

"Should we check it out? i thought they raided this place already?"

"Well, what if they missed something', might be important.."

So they disembarked to investigate the place. They carefully poked their way through the rubble and wreckage. It seemed there was nothing to explain the electrical signal. Until someone spotted a human hand...

Once the discoverer was done screaming his head off at what he thought was a dead body, he called the others over to investigate. Bit by bit they lifted the wreckage. What they found was a badly injured humanoid figure. He had severe burns, but even though the uniform he wore was scorched, the sphere symbol could still be seen.

He was in pretty bad shape. The clothing, thankfully made of fire-resistant material, had born the brunt of the flames. But enough had burnt through to cause serious injury. They though him human, until the seen the melted remains of what looked like...where they wings?

They group looked at each other baffled. The half-dead guy bore a disturbing relation to the guy Cortes was so infatuated with. This one was virtually identical, bar the fact his hair was a pale lavender as opposed to sirus' blonde. And when he opened his eyes a second later, they were a dark violet, almost black.

He took in the people that had hauled him out of the rubble. He'd put himself into standby to conserve the little energy he had left. The flames had died out, smothered by the rubble and dust. He'd gotten there...how he didn't recall, his memory had shut down, he was running on backup reserve.

So he did the best he could. He freaked out, thinking whomever had buried him was coming back to finish the job. Pulling away from them he dived behind a nearby rubble pile, panicking.

"Great..he's a total fruitcake...what'll we do with it?" one asked. The leader shrugged, "bring him back with us I guess, he looks way too similar to the other one. Captain Cortes will want to see this.."

But of course they had to catch him first. It took some minutes, but they eventually persuaded him to come back to the ship with them. On board the ship they noticed the figure seemed fascinated by all the controls. He stared at it all in amazement. He was like a little child.

* * *

Getting him off ship again when they got home was another matter. In the end they hand to tie his hands behind his back and frog-march him to the vector. Even then he panicked and fidgeted. Yet he still hadn't spoken a word.

Vector did a double take when he seen the rumpled, terrified figure the scouts dragged in to show him. The moment they let go, the dazed figure lost his balance and sat down with a bump, blinking up at the old man.

"Well, you look awfully familiar.."

Anubis just stared up at vector, wide-eyed and utterly scared. He looked a state, torn and singed clothing, various cuts and scrapes, and his hair had obviously caught a bit of the flame, as it appeared to be a lot shorted then his twins, it looked more like a feathery crop then sirus' shoulder-lengthish style.

The lead scouter shrugged "we found 'im in the wreckage...recharged on the ship, somehow he overrode the security to do so.." here he glared at Anubis, who flinched and ducked his head.

"Hmm.." vector rifled through piles of paper "aha! here it is!" he came back over to Anubis, kneeling down so he could level with him.

"I think id be right in assuming your the twin unit sirus mentioned. Its Anubis isn't it?"

The robot blinked, then nodded. He knew his own name at least. He tried to speak, but smoke inhalation had damaged his throat, and all he could do was cough and choke.

Vector patted his back "take it easy.." he looked up at the search party "go fetch Cortes and sirus, I'll look after this one..."

After they left vector managed to persuade Anubis to drink some water, then sat the addled robot on a couch. The guy sat there, fidgeted, then nearly toppled sideways as he seemed incapable of keeping his balance.

Vector was about to ask if he wanted anything to eat, when he heard footsteps approaching, and familiar voices.

"They cant be serious, if he's alive..he could try attack us again?!"

"I know aran..but it sounds like his memories been erased,"

Those voices...something about the first one made him nervous..and the 2nd sounded familiar..hadnt the old man said he had a twin?

"Vector-?! Where are you.." Cortes shouted as he barged the door open. Anubis freaked again. Darting off the couch he hid behind a pile of cardboard boxes.

"right here..." vector said..blinking at Anubis actions.

"Is it true that fruitcake brother of mien is still alive?! Where is he-?" sirus asked in a rush.

Vector pointed to the pile of boxes, which shivered slightly as the hider heard the voices again.

"What the fuhh..." Cortes trailed off "are we looking at the same guy here...the crazy loon that tried to kill us, is a scardey-cat?!"

Vector sighed, moving over to the boxes to try coax Anubis out from behind them.

"With all due respect captain, i think the accident has totally screwed with his system. It must've tried to repair itself..."

"..and gotten it wrong.." Cortes butted in.

"So now his behaviour, is like a little child...he's slightly clueless..the only thing he remembers is his name..." here he spoke to the box pile "come on..your safe enough here, out ya come.."

But the terrified Anubis shook his head, hunched up.

Sirus blinked. He wasn't sure what to make of this...

Cortes at last got fed up waiting. He strode over, leaning over the box pile.

"Oi, crazy-maniac-that-tried-to-kill-us...quit mucking about! youre not fooling anyone!"

Anubis blinked, looking up at this ginger-haired bird-man. He panicked, scrambling up and hiding behind the vector, clutching the old mans sleeve.

Sirus stared. It was Anubis alright, he looked the same...although he looked a little charred and scraped now. But the look in his eyes was different. Where there'd been a homicidal gleam before..now there was just plain fear.

"Aran...wait.." he walked over to the two. "I don't think this is a trick.." he held out his hand to is terrified sibling. "Its OK, I'm not gonna hurt you.."

Anubis regarded the hand nervously, then shyly reached out and took it. The second they made contact sirus was able to scan his twins system files, everything...

After a few seconds he blinked, and looked at his brother "Aran...the vectors right. His system isn't the same one I encountered last time...the backup option has been switched to primary.." he looked at Aran "it's a bit like setting a computer to factory settings...he must've sustained severe shock and cranial injury when the rubble hit him.."

"So..what're we supposed to DO with him?" Cortes asked "most everyone red the incident report about this guy..it's not exactly a safe haven for him.."

"Well it can be.." vector said at last "his memories are gone, his systems been reset..he can start again..."

Sirus smiled at Anubis "sound good to you?"

Anubis looked hopeful for a second, then he caught Cortes glare and he ducked his head again.

Sirus realised what the problem was and smiled. "You know your own name right? Well im your twin unit, sirus.." he pointed to the scowling human-bird "this is my precious Aran" then to the old guy "and the vector.."

Anubis took all this in, still clutching his brothers hand. After a second, he nodded, and managed a faint smile.

Sirus sighed in relief "looks like your memory recording systems are intact..."

There was a deafening growl. Cortes stared, what the hell?!

Vector cracked up laughing and Anubis looked bemused.

"Id say someone's in need of food..."

Anubis stomach growled again, and he swayed slightly on his feet, nearly falling.

While sirus and vector tended to the half-starved Anubis, Cortes just stood there, frowning. He wasn't sure about this. Although sirus looked happy to have his brother back..

--Its just like when i finally got to see Christophe again...i wanted to make sure he stayed close by..i guess i can understand..-- he sighed, rubbing his eyes.

Seeing his lover looking stressed, sirus sat Anubis down on the couch and wandered over to Aran. He slipped his arms around his waist.

"What's wrong love...is it because of what happened before with this guy..."

Cortes sighed "yeah..i guess it is..it's hard to shake off the memories..but since he seems even more clueless then Mahad, guess i cant really shout at him and kick him outta here...afterall.." he nuzzled the other "i can see you're happy he's back.."

Sirus hugged Cortes tightly "thank you sweetie" he said happily, and gave him a little thank you smooch

Anubis, who'd been watching vector poking about for something to eat, turned his head back around just in time to see them. He blinked, turning slightly red. Whoops. He hadn't meant to stare.

--The other me likes this human guy? they seem...suited to each other..-- he didn't really understand the concept of love or affection, but it seemed nice, and he felt a sudden longing to know what that felt like...

At last his twin and the ginger-haired human pulled apart, the human slightly red faced. His twin gave him another quick kiss then turned his attention back to his brother, who was sat there staring into a corner (he didn't want to be caught gawping)

He tried to coax his twin to talk, but Anubis still seemed a little frazzled. Vector returned some time later with food...and some spare clothes.

Anubis blinked at the garments, confused. Sirus understood and poked at the symbol on his twins uniform. "You ant go round wearing that...the sphere are gone now.."

Anubis looked baffled, so sirus continued "the people here put a stop to them a long time ago..hey-" On hearing this last part, Anubis had scuttled the far end of the couch, staring bug-eyed at Cortes. This guy was gonna destroy him?

"You can quit giving me that look.." Cortes grumped "I'm not going to kick your ass.."

Anubis looked a little less scared, and vector persuaded him to eat a little. Actually he ate rather a lot. Vector referred to him as "a stomach on legs". Corte sonly replied with" good lord they cloned Mahad!"

"You called?" a cheeky voice answered. Mahad sauntered in, his sister behind him "we heard they found something on the scouting missi- GOOD LORD THEY CLONED YA!" he screeched, pointing from Anubis to sirus.

Anubis ducked his head, putting his hands to his ears. the noise sounded so loud..

"Mahad calm down!" Lena said, shaking her head. She looked at the scared Anubis, who was hiding behind his twin, peering nervously at them.

"Mahad, Lena...this is sirus' twin, remember from the report? Well somebody's got a case of a wiped memory bank...so the scout party brought him back here."

"Memory loss? they wont come back..?" Mahad asked. Vector shook his head.

"Nope..he suffered severe damage, its permanent erasure id say..he quite literally isn't what he used to be.."

"He's very quiet...cant he talk?" Lena asked. Vector frowned and shook his head.

"It would seem not..i would guess his vocal processing unit has permanent damage...and i don't know enough to fix it I'm afraid.."

"Well were stuck then.." Cortes said at last "not being able to talk is a major pain in the ass...i should know.."

Lena thought about it, then walked over to Anubis.

"Its OK, don't be scared!" she said to the cowering angel. Eventually he peered out at her from behind his brother.

Seeing the extended hand he smiled and took it. This meant people were bing nice..

While he was distracted, Lena sent a small shock of energy through him. He blinked, then shook his head slightly.

"Try now?" she offered.

Sirus smiled at his confused twin "try, see if it worked...

"whuh..w-what worked?" he stumbled out with at last. Then blinked, startled.

"Alright Lena!" Mahad grinned "how'd ya do that?"

Lena smiled "sometimes our energy can be used to sorta..jump-start things again...looks like it worked too.."

Sirus smiled at her "Thanks, this'll make it much easier for him.."

Anubis blinked, he hadn't spoken in so long..he was a little unsure..

Vector patted his shoulder reassuringly "don't push yourself, this kind of thing takes time..."

"So what's gonna happen...you'll have to explain this to the rest of puerto angel.." Mahad asked.

Vector smiled and gave a nod "way ahead of you, ill have the updated report information finished by later.."

Anubis sighed and stared at the floor, scuffing his feet "uhm..i-its not good I'm h-here is it...I've b-been here before, haven't I?"

Sirus sighed, how best to explain it; "well..just briefly..."

"A-and I'm guessing i-it didn't g-go too well.." he stammered at last.

"Call that an understatement.." Cortes muttered to himself.

Lena looked back at him. She could tell the captain was peeved the 2nd sky angel was here. Perhaps it was because to him, the guy was taking up al of his 'mate' sirus' time. Or maybe it was because cortes still had a vendetta against this guy for kidnapping sirus the last time. Cortes didn't trust people right away, it took a fair while..

"You don't need to worry about that now.." vector smiled "that's all over and done with.."

Anubis sighed, but eventually accepted it. He looked very sad Lena noticed. But then, losing all your memories and being stuck in a pile of rubble for a long time would scare anyone..

"Why dontcha come down to the tavern with us?" Mahad asked. Vector frowned best not yet Mahad..until i have the details finished...itd take a lot of explaining..I'll have it broadcast as soon as its finished.."

"Well I'm starving, lunch sounds appealing.." Cortes muttered and looked at sirus "you coming..?"

Sirus looked about to hesitate, but his brother nudged him "g-go..ill be f-fine for a w-while.."

Sirus patted his arm "ill be back soon, i promise.." and that said he left with the kids and his love.

Anubis sighed, and curled up in a ball on the couch. He pretty soon drifted into sleep...

* * *

When they got to the tavern, Mahad told his mom and dad the whole story. Other people crowded round, and soon he was telling the whole tavern about the memory-less angel.

"Yeah but can ya trust him?" someone cut in. One of patrucci's friends Mahad noticed.

"The guys completely defenceless, he doesn't know anything. He doesn't even remember what he did before...its like putting a magnet next to your computer...kaput, data's gone for good!" Mahad stated.

People muttered amongst themselves. Why not give the guy the benefit of the doubt? He probably was, by all accounts, completely clueless. If vector had said so then...

But as usual, there were people who thought it a bad idea. Friends of the idiot patrucci of course. They thought the guy should be shut down, to prevent him from EVER remember. The guy had tried to restart the sphere for heavens sake. Defenceless or not, he could still be dangerous.

Perhaps they should go see him...

* * *

"There..done!" vector smiled as he saved the last part of the transmission. "Ill just go set up the broadcast.." he looked at the snoozing Anubis.

"He'll be fine for a moment..."

And saying this, he went up to the upper level of the lighthouse to try sort it out.

A few minutes later, while vector was still cursing the outdated equipment, Anubis woke up by sliding off the couch in his sleep.

Rubbing his face he looked out the window. And see a big white bird fly past. It had pretty feathers...he wanted a closer look...

He found his way down the stairs and outside. Blinking at the bright sunlight, he resumed chasing after the bird so he could get a closer look.

(just like a child...)

He'd just about snuck up on it when the group from the tavern saw him.

"Hey..c'mere.." Anubis stammered to the bird, trying to coax it a little closer.. He got the shock of his life when someone grabbed his arm and hauled him round to face them. He barely had time to get a look at the one holding him, then the guy hit him. Pretty hard. Enough to knock him onto his rear. He stared up at them, wide-eyed, scared. What did these guys want?

"Now you listen 'ere you little traitor...Nobodies gonna believe the old "memory loss" game, not where you're concerned. So why dontcha just do us all a favour and clear off?"

Anubis blinked, the vector had said he could stay...but these guys...

"I don't know what you mean?!" he said at last, desperately confused. He staggered to his feet, only for the second guy to clock him in the gut.

"Ya cant bullshit a bullshitter kid..now drop the act and get lost! Tell vector you wanna go back to sleep...or we'll put you asleep!"

Anubis did the only thing he knew how. he legged it, stumbling down the hill towards the town.

"Quick! Don't let him get away!" the leader yelled "like hell a sphere traitor is staying here?"

"But what about the other one?" his cohort asked.

"Dumbass, he didn't even work for them, he followed that Cortes jerk back here. He aint tried to kill us all..but this one 'as!"

Anubis ran as fast as his shaky legs could. But it wasn't fast enough. With their knowledge of puerto angel, the three soon cornered him in an alleyway.

"Lets get this over with shall we? Teach this traitor a lesson as to why we don't like his kind!"

Anubis felt panic strike full force as the three closed in on him..what was he supposed to do?! He tried to push them off, but all knowledge of how to fight back had been lost when his main memory chip had been badly damaged...he was stuck..

* * *

Whee...fic teh 3rd! over 1,000 views on DA and hopefully manyh more to come (once i get drawing again XD)

Random Fact: Arsehats behaving itself, and Beasts monitor needs replacing. help!


	2. Hostile Locals

"At last! I'm finished, you alright there-uh oh.." Vector came down the stairs and noticed the missing Anubis.

"Did he go outside...?" the old man wondered. But a quick check showed he wasn't there either.

--Seems a little odd...the guy seemed too scared to venture off that couch. Somebody or something must've startled him into running..this cant be good. He shouldn't be out on his own in his state, he could get lost or injured..--

Little did he know how right he was..

* * *

Anubis hid behind a pile of rubbish bins. The guys had finally left him alone, leaving him with the threat of his life ending prematurely if he didn't leave...

But where could he go? He didn't know anything about where he was. And every time he tried to stand up, the various injuries ached and pained. He had a good few bruises, a cut across his cheek, and a few injured ribs. His stomach hurt too from the beat down...

He tried to lift his right arm, but it wouldn't respond. Looking at it seemed to have dislocated from its normal position. That'd been when he tried to run and they'd hauled him back...

He rested his head on his knees and sniffled. He didn't understand, didn't remember. Why wouldn't anyone tell him what he'd done before? It must've been bad if those men wanted to hurt him so bad.

--I must have...hurt somebody important...attacked this place...that's why their mad..-- he hiccupped --I wish I knew what I'd done..I'm not the same person I was when I came here before, I know that much. The other side of me must've been a very bad person..--

"Guess the Vector was wrong...I C-CANT stay h-here.." he said softly to himself. Somehow that hurt the most. He'd learned a lot since those guys had rescued him. He had a brother. Who was always cuddling that fierce-tempered human. The little girl Lena had been able to fix his speech for him. These people all seemed nice. But he hadn't learnt what it was he'd done before.

--If I knew what it was...id try make it right,..but nobody will tell me...I don't understand...was I such a horrible person before..?-- he felt about to be sick...

He heard footsteps, someone humming. They were headed this way..what should he do? He tried to stand again but it hurt too much..

"Lessee...which bin is it? GAH!" the person with the trash bag got the fright of his life when he spotted the battered Anubis.

"Holy..you're the guy Mahad was blithering about...Why are you out here-" he got a closer look at the injured robot. "holy crap on a pogo stick..what happened to YOU?!"

Anubis huddled up and shook his head. He wouldn't say.

"You look like you just fought a match with a mangler bud, no way this was just an accident.." he poked the dislocated shoulder, and Anubis made a pained noise.

"Shit, sorry..geez this looks worse then id guessed...c'mon come inside.."

For the first time Anubis looked up and got a look at the guy. And panicked. He was the spitting image of the scary guy his twin loved.

"Gwah...b-ird..I mean..y-you look like the other you-"

The guy blinked, then cracked up. "Aha,..youv'e met my brother I see...the one you seen is Aran, I'm Christophe. I take it you have a name bud?" as he spoke, he helped the battered Anubis to his feet.

Anubis shakily told him, and asked where he was taking him.

"I know a back way into the tavern, you can stay in the back room, they have a first-aid kit too..but judging by the state of you, you'll need a doctor.."

He got him there eventually, and had him sat down in the small cosy room that served as an office when stock had to be taken. Anubis sat where he was put, feeling scared and sick.

"Stay here OK? I'm gonna go find my brother-" he blinked as Anubis looked even more scared "don't worry, he's all bark and only occasional bite. He wont harm ya, just glower at ya, that's more his style...You'll be OK here, nobody can get through.."

The injured angel just nodded, sitting there, shaking in exhaustion and confusion.

* * *

The three had returned to the tavern, having washed their hands of the affair (literally). They got a shock when the Vector came barging in.

"What's up man?" Mahad asked.

"Its Anubis, he's missing, I haven't been able to find him anywhere..."

The three attackers just stared incredulously, trying to look as confused as everyone else.

"I haven't seen him either.." Mahad responded "I thought he was staying in the lighthouse?"

"When I came back from sending the transmission, he was gone. There's no way he'd go this far by himself...he doesn't have the stregnth..so somebody had to have seen him. He probably freaked out and ran away..."

Christophe had come out of the back room, sidled past the bar and towards the crowd surrounding Vector.

The old man carried on "He's not in a good mental state, he has minimal systems operating, no recollection of this place at all." He looked at Sirus "as you checked?"

Sirus nodded, "Its true..as I was built with the same system, I can read his on contact..most of his system OS didn't survive the collapse of the building, he's running on the bare basics...no idea how to defend himself, nothing. He's in no state to harm anyone-"

"Yet someone seen fit to do it to him!" someone interrupted. Cortes blinked.

"Christophe?" he asked, confused "you found him?"

Christophe nodded, and hopped up on a chair to address the gathering crowd.

"Oh I found him alright...in a state you normally see a bar brawler. SOMEBODY obviously didn't think to ask the guy if he even had his wits about him. Instead the chose to practically slaughter the poor goit. I found him bruised and bloodied, scared out of his muddled mind, and barely able to stand."

People looked at each other, who could have done this?

"Vector just said he hadn't even sent the transmission when the guy must've gone.." Lena added, confused.

"Exactly. SO whoever went after him had to have to have been here, to hear Mahad telling us all..."

The people in the bar looked at each other. The three at the bar seethed, how dare this guy stick up for that piece of trash!

* * *

In the back room Anubis was wondering where Christophe had gone. He'd been awhile. Had something happened, had those guys gotten him too? Panicking he managed to get the door open, and stick his head out into the corridor. And seen something very odd indeed...

Somebody was creeping towards the front of the tavern. They were clothed entirely in black, face covered too. That wasn't normal, even Anubis knew that. So he snuck after the guy...

The masked man barged the door down, aiming a dangerous-looking plasma gun at the occupants. People screamed and panicked. The guy took aim at the bar staff

"Whatever of value ya got there, give it up-" he heard someone's footsteps scuff behind him. He turned, coming face to face with Anubis.

"Well, looks like someone's got a death wish-" he raised the gun to shoot the angel, but Anubis moved too quickly. Acting on impulse, he grabbed the guy by his collar, lifted him off the floor, and sent him flying into a stack of crates.

The robber dropped to the floor like a ton of bricks.

"uhm...sorry...but you shouldn't do that to people..." Anubis said at last, poking the guy with his foot. The figure didn't move...out cold.

"who the fuhh are you?" the bar staff said. Anubis panicked, realised there were people staring at him, and turned to leg it. But his injuries ached again and he lost his balance, and landed splat on the floor.

"Owwwie...floor so close.." he mumbled. Christophe ran over and helped him sit up. While he checked the scared Anubis over, the bar occupants finally unfroze.

"Holy shi-..are you OK? what happened?" Sirus panicked, seeing his scared twin.

People stared, seeing the injuries Christophe had just been describing to them. The guy looked a mess. And when hugged by his twin, started crying in shock.

The Vector sighed, relieved he'd been found, but concerned by the state he was in. Who the hell had done this?

What in hell is going on?!" Cortes snapped, looking round the bar. "Someone on this block is responsible for this, and I want to know who, NOW."

Anubis winced as he heard Cortes yelling. He looked over at him...and his heart stopped for a second. The three were right there. He began trying to get up, panicking worse then ever. The Vector had caught sight of where he was looking, and passed this info to the raging Cortes.

"I'll have them hauled in.." Cortes muttered. He was pissed. Sure he hadn't exactly been to thrilled about having the guy here, but that didn't mean he wanted to lynch him to within an inch of his life..

The crowd had calmed down now, and Anubis scared sniffling and garbled explanations about the attack was all that could be heard.

"Its OK..." Sirus patted his hand gently "I wont let them get away with this..."

"I n-need you to d-do something for me..please.." the beaten angel begged. Sirus blinked "what is it..?" and what his brother said next startled both him and Christophe.

"I...w-wanna..go back t-to standby...switch off..."

"But why..?" Christophe asked, "you've barely been here.."

"Its not...a g-good thing...I'm here...p-people are angry...I don't know what it is...b-but it must've been p-pretty bad..." he struggled not to start crying "its nice here...v-Vector and the others have been really nice...but they'll get in trouble for helping me.." he swiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his clothing "m'sorry...guess the sphere was r-right...I was a mistake to build.."

By now the crowd had gone mostly silent, and bit by bit they heard the injured angel shaky speech.

"..so please...go get Vector..somebody that can start the shutdown!"

"No way in hell." everyone looked up as Cortes spoke.

"Huh?" Anubis blinked, startled into pausing crying.

"I said, no. way. in. hell. Your brother remembers everything about you...including the fact the thing you wanted that whole time, despite acting like a fruit loop, was the chance to have a life of your own after your own creators abandoned you."

He turned to glare at the three at the bar as he spoke "your memory is gone, ill destroy the damn report...what's to stop you? Oh wait...I know.." he glared at the three, pointing a wing at them, the feathers snapping out. "SOME PEOPLES RETARDED INABILITY TO WAIT FOR ALL THE DETAILS BEFORE THEY DECIDE TO USE TORTURE TACTICS!"

He grabbed the ringleader by his collar. "There's blood on you, I can smell it..and there's only one person here with enough injuries to give off that smell." his eyes were cold, and the guy began to see why portuchi had been afraid this guy would kill him.

Without warning Cortes threw him from the bar stool to the floor. "You make me sick. Sure I may not have trusted this guy when I seen him...but I figured it best to give him a second chance. Everyone deserves that. Except people that beat up an innocent person!" The wings had snapped back, and Vector winced again. Cortes was well and truly pissed off now.

"You appoint yourselves as some twisted sort of vigilante, yet who are you to judge, WHEN YOU ATTACK PEOPLE SOLEY BECAUSE THEY MADE A MISTAKE!"

Anubis had his hands clamped firmly over his ears by now, and was shaking from fright.

--He's like a little kid...he needs someone to take care of him...-- Christophe put an arm around the shaking angel and patted his hair. "s'ok, my brother'll sort this out." he snickered "you mess with Aran, you get an ass-whooping!"

Anubis blinked, then, seeing people were looking at him, buried his head on christophes shoulder, clinging to his sleeve.

--D'oh. He's kinda sweet...like Aran when he was little...he used to hate arguments...-- Christophe thought to himself. The guy looked too vulnerable for him to say no.

Sirus blinked as he seen Anubis clutching hold. He chuckled. Anubis clearly didn't realise just how cute this looked.

--This is weird...of all the people my brother could latch on, its Aran's brother...this is bizarre..--

Christophe noticed the goofy expression on Sirus' face. "you on the fritz again bud?" he asked, bemused.

Meanwhile Cortes hadn't finished yelling at the three;

"We can run sooo many tests to determine it was you three degenerates that attacked him, besides the one where he freaked out when he spotted you. So we'll keep you in lockup 'till we can staple the test results to your sorry asses. and if I EVER-" here he turned to the rest of the bar "-EVER, catch anyone pulling a stunt like this, no matter who the target, ill rip your arm off and beat ya to death with the soggy end, we clear?!"

Aside from the few that laughed at the strange threat, everyone else nodded, too scared to argue.

Christophe noticed meanwhile, that Anubis had stopped crying...and appeared to have fallen asleep leaning on him.

--D'oh...talk about awkward...poor guy must be worn out...better find a bed for him...-- he poked the blonde angel and pointed to the snoozing Anubis.

Sirus chuckled at the sight "he must be comfortable around you...he kept hiding behind me when he met Aran and the kids..."

"I'm not sure whether to be pleased or confused..." Christophe said at last. "now gimme a hand, I need to move him without waking him up..."

"First we need to sort his arm out.." Sirus added "its dislocated slightly..."

They brought him to the doctors, where they had to wake him up to give him painkillers, then set about putting said arm back in its socket. Even with painkillers, it was too much for poor Anubis, and he blacked out again.

"Poor guy...what a way to spend your first day awake..."

Sirus sighed, watching the twin, who was sleeping huddled in a ball, the blanket wrapped round him, "I'm worried about him, he was pretty scared to start with, being dragged here by the scout ship...then this..I hope it doesn't put him off trusting people for good.."

"He'll find someone to trust.." Christophe said at last.

"I think he already has.." Sirus smiled "you must've been the first person in town to offer help instead of hitting him.." he sighed "I know its a lot to ask, but do you think you could look after him when he gets out? Itd do him good to know someone will help him..."

Christophe blinked "blimey, didn't think the guy was that attached to me so fast.."

Sirus smiled "his mental process is still a little shaky, he's gonna have to learn a lot of things from scratch...so he's still a little innocent and naive..."

Christophe sighed "he reminds me of Aran as a little kid...guess that's why I felt sorry for him..." he shrugged "I guess it wouldn't hurt him to have a friend.."

Sirus looked relieved "thanks, it'd be good for him..."

--Blimey..-- Christophe sighed --what'm I getting myself into...babysitting this guy. Although he seems pretty nice, even if he's scared of his own shadow..--

* * *

Part 2 wheeh

Random Fact: I think i FINALLY found a suitable replacement for beasts twatty monitor...


	3. Static Burst

The next day the hospital released Anubis. Since his brother was at work, he thought he'd have to find his way by himself. He was too scared. The last time he'd been on his own, those three had lynched him. So he stood at the entrance to the hospital. Fidgeting. People passing by took in the sight of this agitated angel.

He'd gotten changed into some more fresh clothes. Despite the fact it was a very hot day, he was wearing a slightly too large white polo-neck, and black trousers. But he had his reasons...

The doctor had suggested he get a bath before he left, and during said bath, the angel had noticed the burn marks. They were only faint on his neck, but the flames from the explosion had left scorch patterns over most of his back and arms. Hence the long sleeves. He didn't want to give people any further reason to stare...

So there he stood, feeling a little overheated, unsure of what to do. It was while he was panicking that he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped round, looking fearfully up at the person.

"Relax bud, its only me, remember?" Christophe poked his nose as he spoke, and snickered when the kid went cross-eyed.

Anubis blinked, then seemed to relax. This guy was one of the nice ones..the one with the scary brother.

As he thought about it, some kids nearby were setting off bottle rockets fort a laugh. The loud volley of bangs scared Anubis, who mistook it for an explosion..

"Uh..." Christophe blinked down at him. Anubis had jumped about a mile in the air, then clung onto him in fright.

"You can let go now...its not an explosion.."

People looked at the odd sight. Cortes brother and some lavender-haired guy clanging fearfully to him.

At last Anubis let go, and Christophe pointed to the group of kids and explained it. The terrified angel nodded, but still looked a little twitchy.

--Geez, a little neurotic isn't he?-- Christophe thought to himself --I've never seen anyone so easily startled..--

He sighed, wondering how he gotten suckered into babysitting a neurotic robot.

--His brother said he trusts me for some reason..probably because i didn't smack him senseless on meeting him...other then that, i can't see why he does..--

He was interrupted by a loud growl. He looked at Anubis, who turned bright red, and nearly fell over.

Steady him he sighed, and began nudging him towards the tavern. The kid needed food and badly.

The kid hung back nervously as they reached the taverns doors. He looked afraid of something.

"Don't panic, those guys are in lock-up, and if anyone tries anything funny...ill kick the crap outta them, now c'mon..." he urged him inside.

People glanced round briefly to see who it was. Anubis just hid behind Christophe, and kept his head down. He was starting to panic...

"Hey, over here!" Mahad spotted them and called over. Christophe strode over towards them, Anubis sidling behind, clutching the end of his sleeve in fright.

Seated at the table were Lena and her brother, along with Wayan and cheng.

"Another one, way cool!" cheng said enthusiastically as Christophe managed to sit the nervous Anubis down. The pale-haired robot blinked and stared down at the floor, tugging the ends of his sleeves over his hands.

He could hear cheng babbling about robotics and computers to the others, but his heart was pounding too hard in his ears for him to hear it properly.

It was very warm too...

"What's with the sweater, you're gonna fry in this weather..." Mahad asked.

"He's right...your face is already red..." Wayan added, looking at him.

"You OK dressed like that bud?" Christophe asked. Anubis just nodded quickly.

"M fine." he said, his words some what muffled by the polo-neck. He stared at the table, still a little nervous around so many people.

Cheng was poking at a device on the table. Anubis heard him explaining it was a radio transmitter or something like that..

When the next round of drinks arrived, the kid put the device to one side. Checking the kid wasn't looking, Anubis nudged it a little closer to him. In his pocket was a little toolkit, something the vector had given him just in case.

He pulled it out now, and within seconds, had flipped the panel open. He stared down at it. Ah, it was a simple problem. All he to do was re-attach this wire...and move this one..

In less time then it took for Mahad to make a cheesy joke, he'd rewired it. He clicked the panel back into place, and pressed the power button. It crackled into life, startling him with a burst of static, when shifted into a transmission.

"Hawuuh?" cheng blinked, staring at him. He grinned "how'd you do that?!" he picked up the radio.

"Itd take me ages to sort it out, how'd you fix it so fast...?" he looked admiringly at Anubis.

The robot scratched at the side of his cheek. "Uhm...i dunno...r-really.." he stammered out at last.

"You must have a pretty good knowledge of machines then..?" Wayan asked. Anubis thought about it.

"Yeah..I guess so..."" he brushed strands of hair out of his eyes. In the process of this, the sleeve slipped down a bit. Hidden by it were some of the burn wounds from the incident, as well as bruise marks from where the thugs had grabbed hold of him when he'd tried to run.

Spying the burns, Christophe and everyone else quickly knew why the guy wore a sweater in such hot weather..

Spotting them staring at him, Anubis quickly put his hand down, pulling the sleeve over it again. His face was red, he knew it. He hadn't wanted them to see it.

He stared at the floor again. He could barely concentrate. his stomach was shifting. He fidgeted uneasily.

"There you lot ARE, I've been all over the place...where you able to find out what's wrong with the radio?"

Anubis felt his stomach freeze up. That voice.

"Its already fixed Cortes!" cheng handed it over to the captain, "cool huh?"

Cortes raised an eyebrow "that was fast cheng! I only gave it to you this morning!"

Cheng grinned and pointed at the scared Anubis "it wasn't me, he did! in about 5 seconds flat!"

Anubis hunched over as much as he could. He could feel the guy staring at him. The large collar of the sweater hid the lower part of his face, all that could be seen were wide scared eyes.

"Impressive..." Cortes said at last, turning it over in his hands "must have a natural talent for building machines..." he decided not to mention the fact the guy had been able to build a compression canon.

Anubis just squeaked in response. Cortes scared him. The human was so fierce, and those wings were huge..but they were pretty.

"Hey where the other half of ya?" mahad asked. Cortes sat down with a sigh.

"Off on patrol again...wont be back till later..." his voice sounded sad almost.

"Aww..missin' him already?" Christophe teased. Cortes glared at him.

"Just like you'll soon be missing your brain!" he said crossly.

"What brain?" Christophe sniggered, poking his brother in the head.

Cortes glared at swatted at him, but Christophe leaned back to avoid it. And lost his balance, falling off his stool and onto the floor. Anubis couldn't help it.

"Pff...hehe.." he laughed softly. Then went red and hid his face behind the collar of his sweater again.

"Nice going!" Mahad laughed. Lena and Wayan couldn't keep straight faces either.

Cortes shook his head "dork!" he said at last.

"Nerd!" came the response as Christophe sat himself back up.

Anubis couldn't help giggling a little at those two. You could tell they were related allright..the way they acted.

Cortes looked at the lavender-haired angel as he heard him snigger. It was a start.

Catching the fierce-bird-captain staring at him, Anubis ducked his head and tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. That guy obviously didn't like him one bit..he was probably only playing nice because his partner, Anubis brother, had begged him to. Why else would he glare at him all the time..?

His stomach lurched, and he hiccupped. Eyes wide, he scuttled away from the table, aiming for the bathroom.

Cheng blinked as he seen Anubis make a break for it. "He looks a little...pale to say the least.."

Christophe shrugged "tell me about it, he's neurotic, scared of loud noises, his own shadow...plus he seems to eat an inordinately large amount according to vector. He's like a twitchy stomach on legs..."

Cortes sighed "he's a total fruit loop then...well that hasn't changed..only the last time i seen him, he was a psychopathic loon, not a scardey-cat one..."

"Don't be so mean!" Lena interrupted, looking at Cortes "he's lost all his memories, and the first day he was awake, those thugs nearly killed him. If it was YOUR first day awake, you'd be scared too!"

Cortes sighed huffily, "hmph..yeah whatever..." he grumped, which was about as close to an agreement as Lena was going to get outta him.

Wayan chuckled at the captains sulky expression. Since the DNA infusion, his moods sometimes became a little basic, somewhat childish. It was so funny to watch.

In the bathroom a very dizzy Anubis was splashing water on his face. The little food he'd managed to eat before leaving the hospital had decided to come back up. It had been very unpleasant. His head ached too. So much felt like it was building up on him.

"Hey..you're that little rat aren't you? My friends got slammed in lockup thanks to you and your accusations.." a voice cut into the fugue.

Anubis blinked. He'd seen this guy sitting near the three that had attacked him, and realised he must be part of their group as well. He panicked, backing up against the wall.

"P-please...just l-leave me alone-yeaoh!" he cut off mid sentence as the guy smacked him across the face pretty hard, knocking him back into the wall. The guy was clearly drunk despite the early hours of the morning.

"You're a pathetic piece of trash..even the captain doesn't want you around. I've seen the way he was glaring at you..he wants rid of you. The only reason he asnt' is cos 'es sleeping with your goody-goody twin, and 'e told him to let you stay.."

This struck home. Anubis thought about it. The way Cortes had disliked him on site, and only thanks to sirus had he relented and agreed to let him stay. Plus he kept glaring at him every time he saw him...

"And if you think that because he stuck up for your sorry ass last night, that he doesn't mind you here, yer wrong. He could hardly say anything with your brother there could 'e? He only cares for himself and your brother...he couldn't give a crap about the likes of YOU-"

Here Anubis could take no more. The headache had built to a pounding crescendo. And overflowed.

"JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" he shouted as the pain peaked sharply. The guy stared. the robot was glowing with a faint white outline. The it expanded outwards. Every window in the restroom shattered at the same time, the radio he wore went crazy. The stall doors tore free from the hinges, and the mirrors rattled in their frames but remarkably remained intact.

Everyone in the bar looked up at the anguished cry rang out. Then got the fright of their life as the volley of explosions rang out. Every piece of radio equipment either went offline or started spouting garbled crazy static. The main screen showed only snowy static, a high pitched whine emitting from it. Then it went silent as whatever was interfering cut out.

"What the hell was that?!" Mahad squeaked as he removed his hands from his ears.

"Radio interference..." cheng said at last.

"From a bomb? That's not possible..plus we don't have anything like that here!" Christophe added. Cortes thought about it as they all got up from the table and headed for the restroom.

"NO...but we do have a mentally unstable robot..."

"You mean HE did that?" cheng gaped, "whoa..."

They barged into the bathroom, confronting the scene before them. The guy who'd hit Anubis was old cold on the floor. The terrified robot was backed up against the wall, hands to his head.

"What the hell happened here?!" Cortes yelled, advancing on Anubis. "Are you totally off your rocker, you cant just go attacking anyone that comes near ye, let alone wrecking the damn place-!" he reached out and grabbed the shaking Anubis by his shoulders. "now snap out of it!"

He was going to hurt him, throw him out was all Anubis could think. He was in deep trouble now. He began to panic. The pain built up again.

"Are you listening to me?!" Cortes snapped. "What's the matter with you?!"

"I...I DONT KNOW ALREADY!!" Anubis cried tearfully. The was a faint whine, a bright glow, and the next second Cortes was flung to the floor by the re-emergence of the protective force.

"Whoa.." cheng was looking at his equipment "Interference is off the charts..he's somehow creating it himself!"

"Is this normal?!" Cortes snarled, getting to his feet.

"Wait..don't scare him Cortes.." Lena said softly "that's what's making him lash out. I can sense it. People are still being cruel to him..that's what that guy did, he tried to hurt him.." she walked towards the scared robot "he doesn't know how to get himself out of these kinds of messes"

"It's like he created a sort of shielding, but because he was damaged by the incident with Cortes and Marcus last time, it musta gone a bit wrong, hence the interference wave!" cheng added brightly.

Cortes glowered at his brother "oi, he doesn't seem to have tried electrocuting YOU yet, YOU talk to the crazy guy."

Lena watched Anubis' behaviour, he wouldn't look up at them, which meant he was very scared of people. Perhaps he thought Cortes was going to kick him out for this, that's why he wasn't calming down.

Wayan blinked "shall I go radio his brother..he might be able to give us some information.."

Cortes nodded "that'd be best, go quickly!" as Wayan tore off, he noticed his brother sneaking towards the shivering Anubis.

"Hey kid, you can calm down now.." he looked at the unconscious attacker "that jerkass wont be bothering ya again. One of Patrucci's little buddies if i remember rightly...their the worst lot..is that how you got that bruise.." he indicated the swelling on the poor robots left cheek. It looked like he'd been hit pretty hard.

Cortes blinked, taking the possible situation in. This guy must've cornered Anubis and probably started yelling at him. He smelt like a booze factory. He was piss-drunk.

"Pee-yew.." Mahad pulled a face "he musta been fart as a pissed..."

"That's pissed as a fart, Mahad, and don't use such language!" Cortes added.

"Why not? I heard it off you!" Mahad sniggered. Cortes shook his head.

"Doesn't mean you have to copy me idiot boy.."

Lena giggled, trust her brother to get it wrong...

Christophe was standing right in front of Anubis now. He carefully reached out and patted the guy on head "s'ok bud you can switch the WMD now.."

Anubis blinked up at him "but...he'll throw me out for sure.." he sniffled "that's what the guy said.."

Christophe sighed and ruffled his hair, looking over at his brother as he spoke "not if I have anything to say about it. He's caused some mass damage himself ya know...like the hospital for one.."

Cortes gave his brother his best death glare, "fine fine...forgot about it..I'll have someone start repairs.." he sighed. He didn't know what to think. Maybe he WAS being a bit harsh on the guy. After all, sirus had said he had no memories left of the incident.

--I just cant trust him as easily as everyone else can I suppose...probably because I've seen the other side of him first...then this naive side..--

"--there's a giant floating melon outside that wants to have a chat with you commander half-wit!"

"..send it in.." Cortes muttered absently, then realised what Mahad had said, as the whole bathroom erupted into waves of laughter.

"Go play with the traffic Mahad!" he snapped crossly, aware he'd made an arse of himself. But even he couldn't help a faint smile...

"Dumbass!" Christophe snickered. he looked at Anubis "see? he's not all bad, don't be fooled by the gruff exterior..he's a good guy, just give him time to get used to you..he's not very good with trusting people right off the bat." he patted Anubis' shoulder "besides, he'd have kicked you out last night if he was going to..once he's promised someone safety here, he doesn't turn them away unless its deadly serious."

"R-really..?" Anubis sniffled, peering fearfully at Cortes.

Cortes sighed and rolled his eyes "yeees. so stop wigging out already, I'm not going to knock your block off-"

"Or knock you off the block!" Mahad interpreted.

"Shut. up. you." Cortes growled jokingly.

Mahad grinned "hehe"

Anubis smiled very slightly, then sniffled again. He took a step forward, and his stomach growled again, making him feel dizzy. He stumbled and felt the floor come rushing toward him..

Christophe quickly stepped forward and grabbed hold of him, propping him against him. "steady kid, you musta used up most yer batteries on that little outburst..."

"But why is the r-room spinning?" Anubis mumbled weakly, clutching onto Christophe tightly.

"You're drunk?" Mahad offered.

Wayan came tearing back in, "he's on his way back now he said, sir!"

Cortes sighed, feeling relieved. He needed to talk to sirus, about a lot of things...

Anubis barely heard any of this, he had his head buried in Christophe's shoulder. It felt safe having someone he knew wouldn't hurt him, and that didn't think of him as a piece of trash.

--Sliiiight problem here...if i move, he's gonna fall over. He looks like he can barely stand..-- Christophe sighed. Why had he agreed to this...? Although, when he looked at the guy,. he felt somewhat sorry for him. And in a way, he was sort of sweet, like an innocent little child..so willing to trust HIM all because he'd happened to find him behind those bins.

Anubis was getting drowsier by the second. --Humans smell kind of nice..-- he thought absently, then wondered what basis he'd thought that up from. And why?

He was dimly aware of Christophe talking to him, but he couldn't figure out the words. He let his eyes close, and fell into a blissful sleep.

"Hey-WHOA!" Christophe managed to catch him as the pale haired robot blacked out. He carefully picked him up, the guy barely weighed anything.

"Better get him to the doctor.." Cortes sighed, grabbing the radio to call ahead. "what a mess.."

Whee, third chapter hehe

Random fact: I cannot. fricken. SLEEP. DAMN YOU INSOMNIA-zzzzzzzzzzzzz...


	4. A Protective Love

--Poor kid, he hasn't exactly had a good time since he came here..-- Christophe thought as he carried the out cold robot to the hospital. --First he gets yelled at and beaten up. Then the same thing happens, only with less people involved..--

When tucked into the bed, the guy instinctively curled himself into a ball. The doctor said it was likely a subconscious reaction, an attempt to protect himself. Given time, he would hopefully grow out of it.

Cortes sighed irritably, this guy was so much fuss. No matter how hard he tried, he still seen the psychopath he'd dealt with. The guy had tried to kill him, pinned him to the wall by one wing, like a butterfly in someone's twisted collection.

And he'd nearly killed his own twin. That was what had made Cortes the maddest. This guy had sauntered in, kidnapped Sirus, and damn nearly killed him. How was he supposed to forgive and forget? It wasn't that easy...

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the doors being flung open. Looking up he seen the familiar figure of his precious Sirus, and ran to hug him, tightly.

"Everything OK Aran? Wayan said there was an incident..." sirus asked as he ran a hand through Cortes' hair, then kissed him gently. Cortes sighed, indicating the room where the guy was.

"He's asleep, he passed out from getting himself too worked up...some guy tried to threaten him and he damn near blew up the restroom at the tavern."

"How?" sirus asked, baffled, "I didn't find any knowledge of combat techniques in his system..."

"Beats me, Cheng guessed it might've happened when he tried to shield himself and something didn't go right.."

"Sounds about right...that kids a mini genius..." sirus added.

Cortes smiled "ill say, he's practically your brothers biggest fan now, he's fascinated by him. He repaired the radio I gave Cheng in about 5 seconds apparently. then again..."

Sirus sighed "..he did build a canon, I know...I wonder if that means some of his knowledgebase is still intact...?"

Cortes sighed and stared at the floor, Sirus frowned, he seemed upset.

"What's the matter love?" he asked, then had an idea of what it was "you're still worried about last time aren't you?" he nuzzled Cortes hair gently "that side of him is gone now...its up to all of us to help him create the right sort of personality files. If we look after him, he'll be alright...ill make sure.."

"I know...I know...it just cant forget what happened so easily...he nearly killed you. What if some of his old self DOES come back?"

Sirus sighed and nuzzled Cortes nose "I doubt it will. What he's remembering is probably just HOW to do things...not when and where he last used them.."

Alone in his room (Christophe having wandered off to get something to drink) Anubis could pick up on every single word. So that's what it was. It was those two he'd tried to attack, his brother and the winged guy. No wonder the guy hated him. He felt sick. He could deal with this...He got up from the bed, running over to the window. He had to know what had really gone on. Why was everyone shielding him?

Then he realised he had a problem. the wings he'd had had sustained massive damage during his accident, and they had to be taken care of. Removed actually, since they'd borne the brunt of the crashing rubble they were beyond repair. So how was he going to get down? this was the first floor...

So he went close to the door to see what else those two were saying.

Christophe had finally come back from his little wander. Spying his brother and the angel he snuck up behind Cortes and scared the living daylights outta him.

"Damnit don't do that!" Cortes snapped

Christophe sniggered "sorry, cant help myself.."

Sirus sniggered at his arans pissed expression.

"That guy OK?" Christophe asked, indicating the door to the room Anubis was in.

"The doctor said he's probably suffering some kind of traumatic stress disorder. That's why he panics so easily. sirus said at last "there's not a lot we can do, except try convince him he's not in any danger.."

"He doesn't seem to be seeing much evidence for that..." Christophe added "so far he's been attacked twice, it took ages to convince him to even go to the tavern again. He seems distracted by something.."

Cortes thought about it. What had the guy kept saying.."i think..he wants to know what happened the last time. Every time I go near him he freaks and runs away.."

"He's probably copped on he had some dealing with you before, and now he thinks you're keeping him here for some sort of revenge.." his brother added. "that's why he's so terrified of you. Of everyone now you think about it...except Lena and her brother..."

"Speak for yourself...he seems to think your his blooming safeguard.." Cortes butted in, "what's with that?"

Sirus had been silent through all this, then he spoke "I think...its a basic instinct. People that've been hurt instinctly seek someone that wont hurt them, that'll take their side. Being on your own in that kind of state is a horrible thing to think about. From the point he awoke, he's been led to believe he's some sort of danger, thus he's been afraid of everyone he's met...and been proven right for thinking so.."

Cortes blinked "So...the reason he's so fond of el dimwit here is because..."

"..most likely because you were the first person that didn't fall into the "violent and scary people" category he'd met with up till then...his grasp of emotional understanding is way below your normal persons. He thinks like a little child, basic and easily scared. Children always have someone that in their mind is safe to them, that they can count on to get them out of trouble..."

"Will he ever get anything of his memories or general knowledge back?" Christophe asked

"That's debateable. The best we can do is teach him ourselves.." Sirus said at last. "so he'll learn only what wont cause him any pain or bad memories.."

"Great..." Cortes grumbled "this is gonna be confusing.." he looked at his brother "you'll be stuck babysitting him for a while I think..."

Sirus sighed "well, I asked him to Aran, he's the only person my baffled brother doesn't go into hysterics on seeing...so I figured it calm him down quicker if he had a bit of help.."

"Didn't think he'd get so attached so quickly.." Christophe said, looking at the door to the room "he's gonna haveta get used to people eventually, otherwise his whole damn life's gonna awkward...he cant rely on one person all the time.."

Huddled by the door Anubis felt sick. did this mean that guy was gonna abandon him soon?

--I guess im a nuisance to him. He didn't WANT to help, he was just doing what my brother asked. Attacked my own brother, and his partner...those two are the most important people in this block place..thats why everyone's so mad.--

Shaking he managed to quietly lock the door to his room and sneak towards the window. Outside he could see a pile of crumpled cardboard boxes below his window. Those'd cushion the fall. So he clambered onto the eldge..took a deep breath, and jumped. He landed with an unceremonious splat amidst the boxes. He lay there awhile. Slightly dazed, then got up. He had to find the report Cortes had talked about, he said he'd destroyed it, but there had to be a second copy..

"Guess I'd better check he hasn't blown the room up.." Christophe joked, then tried to open the door. "that's odd...its locked. It wasn't when I left earlier..."

Cortes frowned, then banged on the door. "Open the door, or I'll knock it down!" but no answer.

Sirus stared in bemusement "why would he lock the door..." then he had s sudden sinking feeling "oh dear.."

"What? what is it?" Christophe asked worriedly, seeing his expression.

"I think...he may have woken up. And heard what we were talking about. Seeing it from his point of view.." he looked at the older Cortes brother "he probably now thinks your going to abandon him eventually, and that's probably frightened him into locking the door-"

WHAM. The door went flying inwards as a short tempered Cortes kicked it.

They ran inside, and immideitly their attention was drawn to the open window.

"Ah. he's done a runner.." Christophe said worried.

"Reminds of you Aran.." sirus said, "when you refused to stay put because I was gone.."

"Yes I know.." Cortes grumped "but what's the kids excuse. If he needed el dingbat here, he only had to open the door, not lock it.."

"Perhaps he's looking for something.." Christophe suggested with a shrug "who knows how that guy thinks..hes a little weird.."

"We'd better find him, fast!" sirus panicked "his system is probably running low on energy, if he doesn't eat soon he'll black out again..."

So off they all ran, each taking a different route..

While they were off searching for him, Anubis was in Cortes office. He'd acted innocent enough, asking where the office was, saying he needed to ask a favour of the captain. A kind woman had steered him in the right direction, and he'd eventually found it.

He'd used the toolkit to open the lock, then closed it behind him. This done he took a look around the office. This guy kept it meticulously neat. Papers were stacked on the desk. Notebooks and journals were piled up in stacks. Sitting on a shelf above the desk was a framed photo. He took it down to have a look. It was a snapshot of his brother, his arms around the human. They both looked so happy...

Sighing he put the picture back. What did it mean, when someone wanted to be by you all the time, no matter what?

--I wish I knew...I envy my brother...he always seems to smile when he's with that guy...I guess he cant be all bad. Maybe its because im a bad person that he hates me..--

He shook the daydreams from his mind, and set about looking for the document. As it was he didn't have far to go. Cortes had taken it from the filing cabinet and left it on top of it. As soon as he opened it, and caught sight of his own name. he knew he'd found it.

He stood there, hands shaking, and began reading...

"Hey man, what's the rush!" Mahad called to Christophe as he bolted past.

"I'm looking for Anubis. he did an 'Aran' and bolted from the hospital.." the older Cortes wheezed.

"He's missing again?" Lena asked, then frowned. "he doesn't know his way round, he could get lost again, then panic.."

"We'll give ya a hand!" Mahad added, and the three began afresh.

He felt sick. The report slowly slipped from his trembling hands and scattered over the floor. What had he done?

He'd kidnapped his twin unit. Tried to kill the bird-human the twin loved. The guy had sustained a lot of injuries, he'd been nailed by a knife to the wall, the blood loss alone caused severe pain. He'd done this as a torture tactic to get the blocks defence codes from his twin unit.

He'd run amok with some renegade pirates, using them to attack Puerto Angel. Caused needless panic and damage..

Droplets splashed onto the fallen papers as the confused Anubis finally learnt the truth of what he'd done. The pain he felt was overwhelming. All he could do was let himself cry..

--Those guys...they had every right to go after me...why did the guys from that ship bring me here? why did Vector insist I be allowed to stay? I'm sure he meant well...but...there's too much that I've done for me to be here...I have to leave. Before something else happens..--

He heard a rattling at the door, and panicked. He ran for the window, jumping down from it. This time he landed badly on his left ankle, and had to fight not to cry out I pain. Instead he just bit his lip and limped along. He'd seen a map in Cortes office, and his memory had saved a snap shot of it. He now knew his way around like a local...

Wayan frowned as he rattled the door of the office. This was where Cortes normally was...but he never usually locked himself in...

"Wayan!" he heard someone call him name, and seen Cortes at the end of the hall. So if the captain was there...who was in the office?

"Captain..whats going on, there's someone in there...but you're out here..?"

Cortes stared. His office?

"Oh. SHIT!" he cursed, and began hammering on the door.

"What's going on?" Wayan asked.

"That addled brother of sirus' is missing from the hospital, he did a runner-"

"like you then-"

"Shut up. Anyway, weve been looking for him for the last 20 minutes...and it sounds like he's come here-!" As he finished the sentence, he succeeded in battering the door down. A quick look confirmed he was long gone.

"Damnit, too late-" Cortes fumed.

"Captain wait-" Wayan knelt down and picked up the papers from the report. "What's this doing out-oh." he gave it a quick scan, then looked up at the captain, "Sir, its the report from when you last met this Anubis guy. He must've been looking for this.."

Cortes groaned, this was bad. "That guys a head case as it is, this'll drive him over the edge.."

Wayan looked down at the sheet of paper he held. He noticed the damp blotches "I think it may well have done..." he said quietly.

--What a way to find out...-- he thought to himself...

The radio Christophe carried flickered into life, a burst of static preceding the transmission.

"He was in my office, he found the report we had on him...he's likely in a severely unbalance state, be careful, we could get a repeat of what happened in the tavern restroom.."

"Got it, I'll try calm him down if I find him.."

"Try. You're the only person he'll believe at this moment in time..."

Christophe sighed as the transmission ended. That guy was probably hysterical by now. The secrets they'd tried to hide from him were causing him so much pain.

--We shoulde just told him bit by bit. Instead of tip-toeing around the issue...that's what drove him to find the report...he knew Cortes was gonna destroy it, so he went looking for it-- he sighed and gave the kids the update -- c'mon kid, where are you?--

"What's your brother got to do with it?" Wayan asked "I noticed he seemed to be looking after the guy last time.."

Cortes sighed "the first person to help him after those thugs beat him up was Christophe, and it would seem that addled robot got attached to him because he was nice to him. He's the only person he'll listen to right now..."

"Poor guy, everything must seem pretty scary in the state he's in.."

Anubis limped towards the docking bay. People barely gave him a second glance. He simply looked like he was having a wander round. He stammered out responses when people greeted him, and even smiled faintly. But inside he felt sick from the pain.

At last he reached the repair dock. The gates to it were locked. A quick glance round showed nobody in immediate sight, so eh pulled himself up and over the gate, ducking behind him boxes. He waited a moment or two. And when he heard no raised voices, he relaxed.

He crept towards the ship docked there. It was Puerto Angels newest water carrier, the Saint Celine. The ramp was down, repair materials were stacked in boxes by it. He crept quietly on board. Here he could hide awhile...maybe fly away..

There was nobody on board, and he found his way to the main control room eventually. He looked at all the buttons and felt his stomach sink. he had NO idea how to fly it.

"Maybe you need to try the manual first kiddo.." a familiar voice pulled him from his thoughts. He whipped round, seeing scary-guys brother walking into the room from the small break room connected to the main room.

"Ah..uh...you...how..?" he stammered, back away, afraid he was in trouble.

"There aren't many ships that aren't under surveillance. I figure the repair yard would be the first place you'd go. With the gates locked there little need to guard it. Besides.." he smiled "the engines on the fritz...so this one wouldn't made a good escape choice..." he kept walking towards Anubis as he spoke.

The angel robot backed up and up and until he bumped into another control panel.

"Whuh...why didn't you tell me..what was in that report..." his voice shook as he recalled it all "why didn't you tell me I tried to torture and kill both my own brother and yours...WHY DID YOU ALL LIE TO ME?!" tears welled up again and he shook his head "why did you hide it? Tried to convince me if hadn't done anything bad...I tried to destroy this place...no wonder those men were so angry.." he hiccupped "why did you all try to oppose them? the things I did. They had every right-"

"Stop right there!" Christophe said at last, cutting him off "first off, the pirates that dug you outta storage the first time were a bunch of fking loons with a vendetta against my brother. They persuaded YOU to go after him. Your personality was warped, they didn't bother to repair you, they just encouraged the broken personality you had. Used you for their own ends..."

"But.." Anubis sniffled, unable to stop from crying. "why did they bring me back? why did vector let me stay, and persuade your brother to give me a home.."

"I don't know the full story, but my brothers had a rough life. He finds it hard to give people a second chance. Hell," he winced at the memory "when I finally found him again, he went off his rocker and refused to even talk to me initially...because we were separated for so long by the sphere. He didn't think he could trust me, since to him, id changed so much.." he smiled "its better now. It took time..but we get along well enough now."

He was standing in front of Anubis now as he spoke "there were a lot of people that weren't too pleased that I came here. I used to work for the sphere afterall..i got the cold shoulder for a while too. Its tough I know. But you got to stick it out, prove you really want to help the people here...they'll come round eventually..." He sighed and put his arms around the shaking robot, giving him an awkward hug. It used to work on his brother when he was having a crying fit...

"It'll work out kid, don't go tearing yourself apart over it. Vectors report proves your no longer the same person. People have read it by now.." the kid looked up at him, teary-eyed and sniffling.

"T-they have..?" he asked.

Christophe nodded, "yup. When I was looking for you, one woman said she spoke to you, gave you directions to my brothers office. She thought you were very polite, and very sweet.. so you see, not everyone is mad at you.."

Anubis sniffled and hung his head "I want to stay.." he said very quietly "my brother is always so happy, I wish I could have that.."

Christophe blinked, then realised what that meant "you mean the fact that he loves my brother? Don't stress it, you'll find someone who thinks you're too cute to let out of their sight.." As Anubis looked innocently up at him, a hopeful look finally overcoming the look of misery, he couldn't help adding; "I think you may well have done already.."

Anubis blinked, wondering what that meant- and got the answer a second later. Wondering just when he started caring for the kid in that way, the older Cortes brother kissed him gently. Anubis turned bright red, but he didn't mind. His brother was always doing this with the scary bird-human...did this mean..?

At last Christophe reluctantly let him go. Noting Anubis' bright red face he flushed slightly. Hoping the kid wouldn't wig out again.

"I must be a sucker for a cute face I guess.." he muttered at last, poking Anubis on the nose "I literally got attached to you kiddo.."

Anubis blushed even deeper. He looked up at him, looking so adorably hopeful.

"Then...y-you're not gonna-"

"Abandon you? I think you got the wrong idea about that conversation kiddo. What were talking about

was the fact you're going to need to learn to trust other people soon...not just your brother and me.." he patted him on the head "like hell im leaving you alone." he put his arms around the kid again "im not letting you wander anywhere unless I go with you, get me?"

Anubis blinked, then nodded happily, and for the first time ever, he smiled. A genuine smile, proof he really was happy with the idea..

Christophe quickly gave him another kiss then hugged the kid. --damnit..my brothers gonna have a field day laughing this one up. But eerytime I look at this kid, I want to look after him. Too damn cute for his own good ya know. Always thought going out with someone was a waste of time, but for this guy, I guess ill make an exception. I've gotten too fond of him to turn my back on him now..--

Oblivious to this, Anubis leant his head against Christophe's shoulder. --He smells nice..-- he thought blushing. He felt safe and warm, being held like this. This person wasn't going to abandon him, he said he'd stay with him...even after all the fuss he'd caused him. He didn't want this person to ever go away from him, he felt safe around him. Happy..

His stomach, impatient with waiting for the lovey-dovey schmaltz to end, growled loudly. Anubis turned red and groaned. Christophe cracked up laughing.

"Looks like we need to feed and water ya already.."

Anubis giggled "im not a rubber plant!" he objected.

"I'll say...rubber plants don't growl.." Christophe reluctantly let go of him, grabbed his hand, and began towing him out the door. "Lets go!"

Hehe ta-daa...hides i coudnt help it xD they seemed so cute together

Random Fact: My back hurts. And its 5a.m an' im eating cookies.


	5. Shockwave

Anubis hesitated as they stood at the ramp.

"What's wrong?" Christophe asked him. The kid looked worried again.

"uhm..y-your brothers going t-to be mad..i broke into his office and s-stole the report..."

"Never mind.." Christophe shrugged "ill deal with him cutie...you just concentrate on starting this new life of yours. and hey," he smiled "you've always got me ta give ya a hand! now lets GO already!"

Anubis winced as he stumbled after him. With all the thoughts raging round hiss head, he hadn't really noticed his injured ankle. Now he'd calmed down, it began to ache and sting.

Hearing the yelps of pain, Christophe sat him down. a quick check revealed it was luckily just a very bad sprain.

"We need to put some ice on the swelling...c'mon lets get back to the Vector.."

"Hey! There you are!" they both looked up as Mahad and Lena came running up.

"You OK?" Mahad asked. Anubis fidgeted then finally nodded.

"Lets go to the Vectors....I daresay you don't want to go to the hospital again bud?" Christophe asked.

Anubis shook his head "t-they'll yell at m-me again.."

"Then lets go...i know a back route!" Mahad suggested, and off they set.

* * *

The Vector was surprised when the small group showed up. One quick explanation later, and he'd bandaged up the injured robot, and sent a message to Aran Cortes, telling him to call the search.

"What did he say?" Mahad asked as the Vector came back.

"Well, he's relieved they found you, but the rest I'm afraid is too rude to ever repeat, especially in front of kids."

"I'm going to take a guess and say....90% profane language?" Christophe guessed.

"Close...more like 99%.." the Vector sighed, "he's been very irritable as of late.."

"You mean since i showed up..." Anubis uttered quietly.

"'ey, thought i told you not to let my brothers grumpy moods bother ya..." Christophe said "if anyone can turn an ordinary sentence into a lot of curse words...its my little bro..."

Anubis just sighed and lowered his head, staring at the suddenly fascinating floor.

"Don't let Cortes scare ya...he's not that bad...." Lena said, patting his shoulder, "his behaviour is partly down to the bird DNA thing. He get VERY cranky with anyone who comes between him and your brother...that's all"

"He does act...a little like a petulant child when he gets it into his head someone's in his way..." Vector added "he'll calm down once he's certain you're not a threat.."

"Why does he have those wings anyway?" Anubis asked at last. Mahad and Lena explained the whole story to him.

"wow...the sphere were a bunch of total..." Anubis trailed off.

"Arsemuffins?" Mahad suggested.

"...what's an Arsemuffin?" Anubis asked. Mahad sniggered "the seat of my pants this morning when i sat down in the tavern.."

Lena cracked up "i said i was sorry! i just put it on the seat beside me for a second..."

--Arse...muffin?-- Anubis fought not to laugh, and lost.

Lena smiled as she heard the guy laugh. Good, he'd cheered up a little.

"Vector are you here-OW,F**K-ME!"

"....watch out for the boxes captain..." Vector said silently. Which prompted more laughter from everyone there.

Cortes staggered up the rest of the way. He glared at Vector. "How many times have i told you not to stack stuff in front of the doors after its delivered!"

Vector just pretended not to hear him. Anubis started feeling scared right away. the bird-guy had a presence that sort of dominated wherever he was, he got the distinct impression people didn't dare mouth off around this guy.

"So what're you here for, aside to swear at the Vector?" Christophe asked.

"You got a transmission...from some woman who claims to know you..." he held out a sheet of paper.

Christophe took it and began reading it.

Cortes glanced at the fidgety Anubis, who was clinging fearfully to Christophe's sleeve, and avoiding looking up.

Christophe smiled as he finished the letter. "Its Marie, i haven't seen her in a long time..."

"Who's she? an old girlfriend?" Mahad asked.

Christophe shook his head "i used to go to school with her, she was a great cook, forever bringing cakes into class...we must've gorged ourselves silly..."

"So whys she looking for you now?"

"Doesn't say, she just said she found out where i was, and wanted to show off the latest batch she's been cooking. 'parently she's a chef now..."

"awright, cake!" Mahad cheered.

Cortes sighed and shook his head. Talk about a one track mind with that kid.

"Well, you know...that valentines day party the townspeople have been planning is coming up soon...maybe shed do some baking for us?" the Vector asked.

Christophe smiled, folding the letter up. "You can bet she'd love that...any excuse to use an oven...!"

Anubis listened to all this with fascination. Then frowned.

"Uh...what's a 'valentines party'?" he asked, confused.

"A smoochy load of-mmmph!" Cortes was cut off as his brother threw a cushion, which hit him in the face.

"stop cursing Aran." he turned to Anubis "its basically an earth ritual...mostly a couples thing really.."

"It's where you show the person you love just how much you truly love them.." Vector butted in. Anubis through about it.

"Sounds nice...I've never heard of it before..."

"Kid...there's a LOT you don't know..." Cortes added, throwing the cushion back at his brother, who ducked.

"Don't be mean Aran, ya grouch..where's the other half of ya, you're ALWAYS grouchy when you're stuck on your own.." he lobbed another cushion at him.

Cortes caught it at lobbed it very fast, so it bounced off his brothers head. "busy, that's what!" he folded his arms an scowled.

"How long has it been since you actually got some sleep Cortes?" Vector asked, peering at him. "You look like a wreck.."

"The last few days I've hardly slept at all...and i don't know why before you ask!" Cortes snapped. But he DID know...well for last night anyway. The nightmares. the memory of this guy. Triggered by his sudden re-emergence, and a bit of overwork. End result; insomnia.

He realised he was subconsciously glaring at Anubis again. and sighed. abruptly he turned and stormed off.

Vector frowned. Anubis sniffled.

"Hey..its OK kiddo...just ignore him..it's like what i said before...it takes time.." Christophe patted Anubis' hair gently.

"he looks exhausted.." Lena said quietly "i could sense it, he's angry about whatever keeping him awake..."

"I'm sittin' right here..." Anubis said softly.

Mahad sighed "he's usually not this bad...its not mating season again soon is it Vector..hes always get grumpy about then.."

"No, its not....not for a long time...the last one occurred tat time when...ah well.." since Anubis was right there, he didn't want to mention it.

"Mating season?" Anubis asked, baffled.

Mahad sniggered and explained the issue. That it was yet another DNA problem.

"He basically has to stay indoors in his rooms the WHOLE week...he always gets grumpy when its close to that time.."

"What happen if he went out?" Anubis asked.

"Well, let me put it this way...your brother would lynch roughly...half the town, for trying anything with the captain..."

Anubis twitched "hes...a little possessive..."

The Vector smiled "yes, he is a bit...but its only because he's so attached to the captain. Personally, ive never seen him smile as often as he does with your twin around..."

Anubis smiled, but inside he envied his brother. Smart, confidant...he was the total opposite of him. He himself was scared of talking to people, convinced he was a nuisance ..and worried he was causing trouble for Christophe by wanting him around all the time.

--Bird-guys gonna hate me when he finds out...-- he sighed.

His stomach began to ache again, and he sighed softly. Would it have been better if they hadn't found him?

* * *

Cortes was pissed off. Mostly at himself, and still pertly at the kid. He had a feeling his dimwit brother was getting attached to him. --Of all the people...he wants to date a total fruitcake...a guy that's scared of his own freaking shadow..-- he punched a wall irritably, leaving a small dent in it. Why couldn't he get used to that guy being here?

He believed Sirus when he said his twins files no longer existed, but he just had a bad feeling...

* * *

With the sphere gone, it was every block for itself, people fought for water same as always. Yet you inevitably got those that were just plain greedy. Much like Mac's bunch of crazy degenerates. Sadly they weren't the only ones. Another loopy group had set its sights on puerto angel as a target. Had they known the surprise they were about to get, they wouldn't have bothered...

After they all left the Vectors, Anubis and Christophe walked back towards the tavern. The robot angel was still very quiet and withdrawn, he didn't really know how to talk to people, he was afraid he'd mess up...

--He's looking depressed again...better make 'im smile~-- Christophe grinned and suddenly started tickling the angel. Anubis stopped in his tracks, doubled over giggling.

"Gyah, stoppit! hee.." he couldn't help laughing.

"There, you look cuter when you smile..stop being so down.." the older Cortes grinned, poking his nose, "cheer up eh?".

Anubis was all set to respond when a loud warning siren blasted through the air.

"What's going on?" Christophe asked, and began running towards town centre. Sadly so was everyone else. In the rush, he somehow got separated from Anubis, who was pushed along by the panicky crowds, until he finally pulled free, looking up at the sky. A huge ship was blocking out the sun.

[This is a raid, don't bother resisting, your firepower wont be any good against us..]

Looking up at the ship Anubis sensed the shielding...it was giving off an unusual pattern. That must be what they're on about...some new gadget to protect that ship..

People tried firing, even a few mosquitoes tore at them a few seconds later, but it didn't seem to be doing any good.

--They're gonna blast the place!!-- Anubis began to panic. He felt a sharp pain i his head...then he had an idea.

--If I could just control it...-- he barged through the rapidly vanishing crowds, spotting a ladder propped up against a wall. He scrambled up it, running the rooftop until he reached a high vantage point he could get a good aim at the ship from...

He glared at the ship as it began charging its main weapon. --You're gonna destroy the one place i want to call home?! NO WAY IN HELL!!--

The fury mounted, and a .familiar pain began to get bigger and bigger....until..

"Alright, move it people!" Cortes yelled as people tore past, screaming and panicking, "get to shelter before they-" he was cut off as a bright white flash exploded over his head, flooding the whole sky. The shielding on the ship started cracking, then began to show gaps, as if something was eroding it...a second flash, weaker this time, but still, it had the same effect..

Grabbing his radio he yelled for all mosquitoes to launch attacks NOW. Before the shielding regained its stability...

While the ship suddenly had to deal with its brand new shielding suddenly proving a total failure, Cortes ran towards where he was sure the flash had emanated. Only one person could have done that. And it WASNT a saijin..

Barely able to stand, and feeling about to be sick, Anubis staggered towards the roofs edge, intending to find the ladder again...but he was facing the wrong direction..

A step later, and he felt thin air take place of roof tile, and he panicked, realising too late his mistake...the ground came rushing up towards him. Then stopped, as someone grabbed the back of his sweater and stopped his fall. Whoever it was lowered them both onto the ground, then let go.

The tired robot just let whoever it was prop him up against the wall. He could barely think straight...

Blearily he opened his eyes, catching a glimpse of whoever his rescuer was. Big wings....white...ginger hair..

Cortes waved a hand in his face, trying to gauge if he was even paying attention.

"How many fingers am i holding up?" got the answer:

"Thursday?"

"You're fine.." Cortes muttered, shaking his head. --Seems to me the kids not as dumb as id thought..he was able to set that blast off deliberately--

He heard the sounds of guns readying, and swore. In the time he'd been checking on the kid, the attacking force had surrounded him. Some must've landed during the commotion.

"Well well, lookit what we got here....skyland's very own sideshow freak! The boss'll pay us good money to catch you as a trophy...ere," he turned to the one next to him "did 'e say dead or alive?"

"No preference.." the second one sneered. Cortes snapped the wings back, aiming to shield the kid as much as possible.

He glared at them, he was gonna wipe their smug grins right off their faces...

One pulled the trigger, but the shot misfired, pinging of a roof edge as Cortes moved quickly, barging him out of the way, the wings force sending the guy skidding. A second shot whizzed by his face, shearing a few strands of hair. But he paid no heed. He was to pissed to pay attention.

The whole lot of them were surrounding him now, and it was taking all his concentration to avoiding close range pot shots and still beat them senseless. He didn't see the first guy getting back up. He didn't see the serrated knife flash through the air. But he heard the meaty thunk of it impacting with someone's body. But not his.

Knocking the attacker away from him, he turned, seeing that somehow the addled Anubis had gotten to his feet, and whether deliberately or by accident, had come between the knife and him.

"Kid MOVE-!" he was silenced as someone grabbed his collar and slammed him into the wall. Pain stabbed through his head, enough to make him feel sick, nearly black out. He could feel blood trickling into his collar. With a final burst of effort he pushed the guy away, hitting him with one massive wing and knocking him out cold.

The guy that had thrown the knife had tried to finish the robot off, but even wounded, a scared Anubis was not something a sane person messed with. The guy laid one hand on him, and the resulting shockwave caused instant lights out..

"Kid...move....now.." Cortes took a few stumbling steps forward, but the blow to the head had been more serious then he'd thought. The concussion, the pain it caused was unbearable...he couldn't stay on his feet any longer. He felt the world fade, then everything went dead...

Anubis slumped against the wall, shaking. He'd pulled the knife free from his shoulder where it had lodged itself, and was now trying to stop the dizzying flow of blood. He heard Cortes voice, and turned round in time to see him collapse. Panicking he stumbled over to him, using his sleeve to mop at the bleeding head wound. Then he tore the sweaters sleeves into makeshift bandages, and tied these around Cortes' head to ease the blood. Now how to get him to the hospital?

He paid little attention to his own injuries, he was more concerned with bird guy. If the guy died because he'd been trying to protect HIM, the people of puerto angel would kill him. He had to make sure bird-guy was OK...

In the end he somehow managed to carry the guy on his back, piggyback fashion. The wings added extra weight, and the extra pressure pressed down on the wound, causing it bleed even more. But he ignored it, focusing on staggering through the backstreets to the hospital..

* * *

"Any major injuries?" the Vector asked.

Wayan shook his head "only a few so far, we got lucky.."

They were standing in the hospital, helping the doctors deal with the flow of patients.

"Where's Cortes? Last i seen he was helping people get to cover..then he vanished?" Wayan asked. Vector shrugged.

"I'm afraid i have no idea..i wonder where that bright light came from...it made swiss cheese out of that shielding apparently.."

Wayan shook his head "beats me..looked like a flash bomb...wait..." his mind drifted back to the tavern incident "of course, ANUBIS!"

Vector opened his mouth to ask what the heck Wayan was on about, but was interrupted by a sudden appearance in the hospital doorway.

Blood dripped to the floor from the angels injury, the once white sweater now soaked crimson. Then his attention was drawn to what Anubis was carrying on his back.

"CAPTAIN!" Wayan gaped, then ran over, carefully taking to unconscious bird-guy from the bloodied angel. He carried him to a couch and with the Vector, began checking him over.

The old man looked back at Anubis "you look like you've been in the wars, what happened?"

Anubis blinked "I-it was...a w-whole bunch of them...i cant remember...i only remember one of them trying to kill me...then it was...o-over.."

"That explains all the blood...Cortes must've beaten them senseless.." Wayan added. Neither of them had noticed the stab wound in amongst all the varying bloodstains, dirt marks and tears in the angels sweater.

Cortes stirred, coughing and spluttering. Wayan pulled a water canister from his belt, the Vector helping to prop the captain up so he could get him to drink.

But Cortes shook his head, turning away from it.

Wayan frowned "stay still sir, you need to get some fluids or you'll black out again..."

"I'm..fine..." Cortes sluggishly waved one hand in Anubis direction "'s him...see..."

Wayan blinked, looking from Cortes to Anubis "what about him-oh.." he blinked as he seen fresh blood droplets hitting the floor. When the kid had come staggering in, he'd assumed the blood was from Cortes.

The kid blinked, tried to step back, and collapsed to his knees. Cortes gave Wayan a shoe in Anubis' direction, telling him it was "an order damnit". He seen the Vector and Wayan surrounding the kid, calling for a doctor...

With a relieved sigh he began to drift away..

Spying Cortes about to pass out again, Wayan knew he had to keep the man awake or it could be next stop coma land. Spotting Mahad dashing by he caught his attention.

"I need you to keep an eye on the captain..don't let him fall asleep!" he asked him.

Mahad nodded and ambled over to the couch where the semi-awake Cortes lay.

"Don't go sleepy now Cortes!" he grinned, poking the captains shoulder.

"Bah...feck off Mahad.." Cortes whined "i wanna sleep.."

"No, you gotta stay awake dopey mcsnoozey..." Mahad said grinning "and I'm gonna make sure ya do!"

"Soon as i can see straight, you and your twin are dead men.." Cortes pointed out.

--He's really out of it..he musta hit his head pretty hard...-- Mahad worried.

"Well...this is a total flamingo-up..." Cortes added weakly.

"Flamingo-up?" Mahad asked, baffled.

Cortes nodded wisely, his zonked out expression making it even funnier "yeah..s'like a cock-up...onlysh mush biggeh!"

Mahad cracked up laughing. "Man you're a few nuts short of a health bar aren't ya Cortes?"

"...no, maybe itsh a turkey-up?" Cortes wondered, feeling sleepy again.."my apologies for the fowl language.." he sniggered at this last bit, then trailed off coughing heavily.

"Gah, breathe man!" Mahad grabbed for his water can, and this time the captain was persuaded to drink a little.

"urgh...why is the room spinning...i think m'gonna be sick.." the winged human mumbled.

"Just try not to, you'll feel worse if you throw up.." Mahad pointed out to him.

Walking down the hall, Mila spotted her son trying valiantly to keep Captain Cortes awake.

"How bad is it Mahad?" she asked, kneeling by them.

"Pretty bad i think...he's out of it..and those bandages are soaked already!"

Mila rummaged through the supplies bag she was carrying, pulling out some medicinal alchahol and fresh bandages, along with some ice.

"Hold still Aran, this'll ease the swelling..." she instructed, while Mahad continued trying to keep him awake.

"Where's..the kid...the spazzy one..?" Cortes asked.

"Spaz?" Mila asked Mahad.

"Oh..i bet he means Sirus' twin...he must be around here somewhere..."

"find 'im..i wanna make..sure he s'okay..." Cortes pleaded with Mahad.

Leaving his mother to take care of Cortes, Mahad set about finding Anubis. He eventually found him in the serious injuries ward.

"Is he ok?" he asked the Vector.

"He should be..he's lost a lot of blood as well as power...but his brothers in there fixing him up."

Speaking of the devil, Sirus came out the door a second later. He looked relived.

"He's gonna be fine..I've got him connected to a generator to restore his power...a few hours and he'll be good as new.." he looked at Mahad. "Where's Aran? Wayan said he'd been hurt..."

"He's in the main lobby, he hit his head pretty hard..he was making JOKES..somethings definitely loose there..." Mahad added as he took off down the hall, Sirus in tow.

* * *

Wheeee, at last! ^^ Sorry for such long delays....ive had a whole load of stuff just crop up all at once. _

Random Fact: I sleepwalk..and sleep eat. Im used to waking up realising ive raided the fridge with my eyes shut again..


End file.
